Desires and Hopes of a Former Little League Parent

I've finished reading the article My Left Arm by former MLB pitcher Bob Ojeda from this past Saturday's New York Times. In the article, Ojeda tells of his experiences dealing with pain in his arm throughout all levels of his playing career from little league to the pros and how his relationship with his father helped and hurt his career. I highly recommend it to any coach and parent of a child who pitches in little league. Reading it got me to thinking about my own experience.

I also played little league. Being the son of Dominican immigrants, living Baseball is a given. Naturally being a pitcher is what I wanted to be. Who didn't want to be the next Juan Marichal. I practiced that high leg kick trying to emulate the Dominican Dandy. Alas, I was neither a dandy or a pitcher. LOL.

My dad supported me in taking me to practices and giving me the money to participate though he never saw me play. He was always busy working. I don't hold it against him, it was just the way it was. Fast forward to 2008 years to my being a dad and signing my son up for T-Ball.

I'll he honest here, I signed him up with the faint expectation that my lefty of a son would eventually become a professional ballplayer. Who doesn't want that. Anyone who has ever played the game and tells you otherwise is a liar. The difference between me and other parents who might have that wish and desire is that I never pushed my son into it. Sure I asked him if he wanted to and he did but I always told him that he needed to give 100% effort. If he couldn't do that then he shouldn't do it. I bought a bat, glove, hitting tee to get him ready. You know what happened? The boy found T-Ball downright boring. LOL. Can't say I blame him. We never played T-Ball. We just played ball growing up on the block and that just translated to knowing how to play the game. So instead of having a miserable kid on the field just going through half-assed motions, I gave him the option to stop playing which he did. The kid just has different interests.

My kids know daddy loves Baseball and love going to the games. My daughter loves going out to eat and see the sights. My son loves it as well. He gets upset when the Yankees lose and happy when they win but his baseball knowledge is limited to a few terms and a handful of players. It is what it is. Like I said before the boy just has other interests. Does that disappoint me? Perhaps a little. I have no one to blame but myself. I helped to cultivate the creative side of two individuals. Gave them free rein to do things differently than dad. To find their own interests and curiosities. As much as I wish my kids were knee deep in baseball as I am, I rather they be individuals instead of clones.

In the end they still enjoy going to the games with dad and that's all I can hope for.

FH

Josh Hamilton Breaks Out

There's no denying that Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers is one of the elite players currently in MLB. From his power display in the 2008 All-Star Hitting Contest at Old Yankee Stadium to his recent power barrage against the Orioles, Hamilton is making a case for his cashing in on big bucks during the next offseason when he becomes a free-agent.

Hamilton racked up a 5-for-5 night against the Orioles on Tuesday night which included four homers, a double totaling 18 bases with 8 runs batted in. The 18 total bases tied the Major League single game record set by Joe Adcock (who also has hit four homeruns in a game) of the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. The four homeruns in a game places Hamilton as the 14th player to reach that plateau. Here's a list of the players who have formerly reached the four homer in a game plateau in the modern era (Post 1901):

Lou Gehrig
Chuck Klein
Pat Seerey
Gil Hodges
Joe Adcock
Rocky Colavito
Willie Mays
Mike Schmidt
Bob Horner
Mark Whiten
Mike Cameron
Shawn Green
Carlos Delgado
****Bobby Lowe (1894) and Ed Delahanty (1896) hit four homeruns before the modern era

There are some amazing names on that list. You have four Hall of Famers (Gehrig, Klein, Mays, Schmidt), Hodges who many believe should be a Hall of Famer. Very good players in Delgado, Green, Adcock and Colavito. So where does Hamilton rank?

Its hard to say. Hamilton has six years of playing time after missing the 2003-2005 seasons due to suspension from substance abuse. Whose to say where he would be if he had been able to play those three seasons. Currently Hamilton has a career .313 batting average with 132 HRs and 461 RBI with a career OPS of .926 (.370 OBP/.556 SLG). At the age of almost 31 (He turns 31 later on this month) he has potentially 5-7 more seasons where he can put up some major offensive numbers. Hamilton is also an amazing defensive player that has speed leading to his reputation as being a five-tool player. Whether or not he remains healthy is an issue. Hamilton has had injury issues having only played more than 150 games in a season once (2008). So if there's any reason that he doesn't come close to being in the Hall of Fame discussion, that is it (Hamilton would have to play 10 full seasons in MLB to be eligible for Hall of Fame voting 5 years after he retires).

Either way, Hamilton continues to amaze Baseball fans throughout the league. Texas Rangers fans should enjoy what they are seeing. It could be the last season he wears #32 in Arlington.

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here to access Josh Hamilton's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access the 4 Home Runs in 1 Game list from Baseball Almanac.com

End of Mariano Rivera's Career?

On a night where New York Yankees history was continued to be made by Captain Derek Jeter, news reports indicate that Yankees closer Mariano Rivera has suffered a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and a torn meniscus of the right knee.

At any age the tearing if an ACL requires surgery and a ling road back of rehabilitation. Add the fact that Rivera is 42 years old, we may have possibly seen the last of Mariano Rivera as an active player. Granted, that his possible retirement is pure speculation, but Rivera has nothing to prove to anyone. He is a bonafide first ballot Hall of Famer and I think that he has a chance to get in with a higher vote total that Tom Seaver's 98.84% of the vote. For now pitchers like David Robertson, Rafael Soriano and Boone Logan to name a few have to take their steps into filling in the large shoes of Mariano Rivera. Time will tell on whether or Rivera is done. For us Yankees fans we hope that it's not. At least not at the expense of his health. Back to Derek Jeter.

Jeter hit his 500th career double in a four hit game against the Kansas City Royals. This places Jeter at tied at 53rd on the all-time list with Goose Goslin and John Olerud. In terms of Yankees history, Jeter is second behind with Lou Gehrig who has 534 doubles as a New York Yankee. Jeter continues to establish himself as the greatest offensive Yankee of our generation.

We'll know more about Mariano Rivera in the days to come.

FH

For Further Reading:

- Click here to access the All-Time Doubles List from Baseball Reference.com

- Click Here to access the All-Time New York Yankees All-Time Doubles List from YankeesNumbers.com

To Boo or Not To Boo

I had an interesting conversation on Twitter with @williamnny23 of The Captain's blog. If you haven't read his blog, you should. It's a great read. He posted the following tweets regarding Freddy Garcia's last start against the Detroit Tigers followed by my responses.

@williamnyy23: I'll never understand why fans boo players. Garcia didn't give himself this start and didn't leave himself in despite having nothing

@williamnyy23 players should be held accountable when they don't do well. That's the way fans let themselves be heard as active participants

@williamnyy23: @SiscoKid027 I just think that's silly. I don't blame Garcia for being bad. I blame the manager for refusing to acknowledge it.

@williamnyy23 it goes with the standing O when they get the job done. The other side of the coin.

@williamnyy23: @SiscoKid027 Again, I think that's silly. Booing anything but a mental mistake makes no sense to me. Too each his own though.

He basically feels that it's silly for fans to boo Garcia for anything more than a mental mistake. The fact that he was trying and not getting his job done shouldn't have been a point of booing or placing blame by the fans. That the blame fell squarely on Yankees manager Joe Girardi for starting him and keeping him out there for as long (or as little depending on your point of view) as he did with Garcia basically throwing batting practice to the Tiger hitters. I can see his perspective on it but I think the pitcher should be held accountable by the fans for his lack of performance. For the fans, the way to do it is by booing. But is it helpful?

Let's be honest, booing will do nothing to help Garcia regain his confidence and /or his pitching mechanics. More often than not booing will only add additional stress to the person being jeered. At the same time, I believe that the jeering goes hand-in-hand with the cheers of adoration that players get when they succeed. I firmly believe that you can't have the fans cheer to your success and give you a standing ovation when you do well without you as the person on the field not being held accountable for your lack of success.

Do I feel that someone like Alex Rodriguez (or anyone else that is not liked by the fans) should be booed at every visiting park he steps to the plate in? Not at all. I believe that it's a product of jealousy by some fans and hatred of who he is by others. Back to Garcia. If a he has just one bad game so far, I don't think booing is recommended. But let's be honest, so far this season he's been downright dismal.

According to New York Newsday reporter David Lennon:

In his last two starts Garcia has given up 12 hits, 11 ER, 3 1/3 innings. 29.70 ERA. He has allowed 30 baserunners (25 hits, 5 walks) in 13 2/3 innings. Opponents are hitting over .400

Fans today feel as if they are much more active participants in the games due to the fact that they pay higher ticket prices to games, higher concession fees and higher prices for merchandise. The smaller ballparks are putting the fans closer to the action further adding to the idea that they are more part of the game than just spectators. The way fans can show their displeasure is by booing and making noise in the same way the fans are asked to make noise, chant and cheer in between at-bats to help the team rally when it's down. It can't be one or the other. I believe that cheering and jeering are part of the proverbial same coin.

Do some fans take it past a certain respectable point? Absolutely. Those who make it personal against the person they are jeering are wrong. There is no excuse to heckle someone because of their race, religion, sexuality or beliefs. But I believe that it's perfectly acceptable for a fan to boo a player if he or she has not performed their job in the manner they were hired to perform. That's just my opinion on the subject. What do you think. Agree? Disagree? Don't care?

FH

10 Innings or More In a Game

Maybe I'm late to this whole 10 innings milestone reached by Cliff Lee. In case you're late to the party as I am, on April 18th, Cliff Lee and Matt Cain locked up in a duel that hearkened back to the old days. Both pitchers combined for 19 shutout innings with Lee pitching 10. The 10 shutout inning plateau had not been reached since Mark Mulder did it in 2005.

To be perfectly honest, I thought the last pitcher to throw 10 shutout innings was Jack Morris in his masterful performance against the Atlanta Braves in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series. I was actually surprised that since that Game 7, seven pitchers (not including Lee) had thrown a 10 shutout inning game. Here is the list:

Kevin Appier 07/23/1992
Bobby Jones 09/29/1993
Bret Saberhagen 07/15/1994
Darryl Kile 09/20/1998
Kevin Millwood 08/28/1999
Roy Halladay 09/06/2003
Mark Mulder 04/23/2005

Roy Halladay actually has two 10 inning games though he gave up a run in the second game. So given that, I decided to dig a little deeper. I wanted to find out how many pitchers had thrown (at least) a 10 inning game. I came across an MLB blog called The Stats of Zoc. Now in May 23, 2011, an article entitled A Pitcher Going Ten Or More Innings in a Game, A Thing Of The Past was posted to the blogpage. In his post, Tom Zocco gives a list of the leading pitchers who from the years of 1950-2011 who threw at least 10 innings in a game. Granted, the list is not a complete list and some of the names of the list might not shock you but the amount of times they accomplished the feat might. Here is the list with the amount of 10 inning or more games next to their names:

Gaylord Perry 37
Robin Roberts 21
Warren Spahn 20
Jim Palmer 20
Billy Pierce 17
Tom Seaver 17
Bob Gibson 17
Phil Niekro 16
Jim Bunning 16
Nolan Ryan 15
Don Drysdale 15
Bert Blyleven 15
Ned Garver 14
Ferguson Jenkins 14
Curt Simmons 14
Steve Carlton 13
Rick Wise 13
Luis Tiant 13
Jim Kaat 13

What catches my eye almost immediately is that this list is peppered with power pitches and staff aces. This leads to the idea that starting pitching was absolutely something to be reckoned with before the era of pitch counts and specialized relievers. Sure some of you might counter with "Well, they were overworked". That might be true but consider this. Of the 19 pitchers Zucco highlights, 13 of them are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The innings they logged leading to many of the names on this list winning 300 or more games (six in total with Warren Spahn having an astounding 363 wins). Of the remaining seven Hall of Famers on the list of pitchers five have between 250 and 300 wins. So the idea that there were overworked might be valid, but the body of work they logged helped them get into the Hall of Fame. For some interesting tidbits and factoids concerning the 10-inning games pitched by those on the list, read A Pitcher Going Ten Or More Innings in a Game, A Thing Of The Past

The game that I feel is the most impressive was the 16-inning duel between Hall of Famers Warren Spahn and Juan Marichal. The game was being pitched into the 16th with a game winning homerun by Willie Mays being the only run in the game. I went into more detail about this game in my Latinoball blogpost September 9, 2009 entitled The Greatest Pitching Duel...Ever (In my opinion).

With the pendulum swinging back to the era of longer games by starters, maybe we'll see more games where starters go more than nine innings. Only time will tell.

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here to access the article A Pitcher Going Ten Or More Innings in a Game, A Thing Of The Past by Tom Zucco dated 05-23-2011
- Click Here to access the article by Roger Schlueter entitled MLB Notebook: Lee, Cain have duel for ages dated 04/19/2012 from MLB.com
- Click Here to access the article by Tyler Kepner entitled From Morris to Lee: Ten Zeros in a Row dated 04/21/2012 from NYTimes.com

Michael Pineda Out for the Season

Where yesterday I was discussing how the Texas Rangers' offseason pick up of Yu Darvish was showing great promise, the New York Yankees' offseason pick up has been knocked out for the season. Michael Pineda, who was received by the Yankees in the trade of their catching prospect Jesus Montero, has been diagnosed with having a labrum tear in his right shoulder. Instead of having Pineda as the right handed option after left-handed C.C. Sabathia in the Yankees rotation, Pineda's loss leaves a big hole in the Yankees rotation. For the Yankees it means that some decisions have been made easier for Yankees' manager Joe Girardi. Where Pineda was slated to join the rotation upon his return and with Andy Pettitte looming, it meant that possibly Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia were in jeopardy of losing their spot in the rotation. Even with Pineda not being available one of their spots might be in jeopardy though it seems as if they have gotten a reprieve. So where does this leave Pineda.

Where the Yankees were counting on Pineda for this season, the injury and surgery comes at a time where it is not so negative for the team. The trade to acquire Pineda was done with the future in mind. Having completed his rookie season during the 2011 campaign, Pineda won't be eligible for arbitration until 2014 and free agency until 2017. So it would be safe to say that even though they lose him for the 2012 season, his being signed until 2017 leaves more than enough time for the deal to pay dividends. If you want more information on how labrum tears have affected other pitchers, read Michael Pineda Injury: The Horrors (And Success Stories) Of The Torn Labrum by Grant Brisbee. It paints a sobering picture about what kind of an injury a labrum tear is. In case you're wondering how Jesus Montero is doing with the Seattle Mariners? Montero is batting .254 with 2 HRs and 9 RBI with 15 hits in 59 at-bats with 11 strikeouts and 2 walks.

So the Yankees will have to roll with the proverbial punches when it comes to their rotation. We'll see how things work out with Hughes, Garcia and Pettitte in the days to come.

FH
For Further Reading
- Click Here to Access Michael Pineda's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to Access the article Michael Pineda Injury: The Horrors (And Success Stories) Of The Torn Labrum by Grant Brisbee from Baseball Nation
- Click Here to access the article Michael Pineda out for 2012 by Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com

What Did I Tell You Guys About Yu Darvish

As my friend Pete would say "You've been talking about Yu Darvish for years", I've been telling any baseball person who would listen that Yu Darvish was the real deal regardless of whether he pitched in the perceived inferior Nippon Professional Baseball League. The Japanese are real stingy when it comes to giving praise and when I hear that many Japanese baseball people feel that Darvish was the best pitcher to ever throw in Japan that's saying something.

Consider this, from 2005-2011, Darvish compiled a 93-38 record with a 1.99 ERA, 916 Hits allowed, 1260 strikeouts with 333 walks (a little less than 4-1 K's to BB ratio) with a WHIP of 0.98. He started 164 games during that time and completed 55 of them with 18 shutouts. His highest ERA in the last five seasons was 1.88. 1.88!!! Now, if you're interested in all the advanced metrics which are beyond my realm of jurisdiction, you can click on this link: Yu Darvish stat spreadsheet. You can also access The Steal of Home's article entitled What Will Yu Darvish’s NPB Stats Look Like in the Major Leagues? for a much more advanced analysis on Darvish.

In this game against the New York Yankees, Darvish went 8.1 innings, threw 119 pitches, struck out 10, walked two and game up 7 hits. He exited the game with a run one first. So far Darvish is 3-0 in 4 starts with a 2.42 ERA in 26 innings pitched with 21 strikeouts and 15 walks. This is his best start yet.

Unfortunately I'm somewhat of an old school person and I adhere to the eye test analysis of a ballplayer. I'll leave the advanced methods of Baseball analysis to the Bill James' and sabermetricians of the world. For those of you who know me, I find a way to watch as much Baseball as I can, including finding International Baseball. The NPB is no exception. I even own the Pro Yakyu Spirits game for the PS3. Does that make me an expert? By no means, but I've seen how this kid can pitch. I think he can pitch at any level and so far, he has shown that. I believe that he will be to Japanese pitchers what Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui was for Japanese hitters/position players.Is he worth the $111 million invested in him between the contract and the posting fee? We'll know that after the 2018 season.

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here for Yu Darvish's MLB page
- Click Here to access Yu Darvish's Japanese Statistics from Japaneseplayers.com